Et cetera : AmeriCorps NCCC Builds Amphitheater for YMCA Camp

  By: Rachel Anderson   For those who have been fortunate to attend YMCA’s Camp Wapsie, a branch of the YMCA of the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area, you know the joy that comes with having a getaway adventure at a fun-packed camp. Originally established in 1918 as a boy’s camp, the camp now caters to groups year round on top of its residential summer camp. The camp provides fun and educational activities, including zip lining, canoeing, sports, archery and camp fires. Part of the summer camp experience is having the closing ceremony with the parents of the campers in an outdoor amphitheater overlooking the lake.  Built over 50 years ago, the amphitheater was victim to years of erosion and deterioration. However, thanks to a nine-member AmeriCorps NCCCC team next year the campers and their families will sit on new benches in the remodeled amphitheater. In addition to rebuilding the outdoor amphitheater, the team is clearing a trail of debris that runs through the camp and rebuilding a waterfront retaining wall.   NCCC is a 10-month residential program where 18-24 year olds from around the national work in teams providing service for communities in the United States. On average a NCCC serves on four to seven service projects where the team spends six to eight weeks in a community working for a sponsoring organization.  The NCCC team, Oak 2, is fire certified and previous projects included doing prescribed burns and trail maintenance for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife in North Dakota and Wisconsin; working for a food bank in Indiana; and working with FEMA in Joplin, Missouri. Oak 2 members come from the West Coast, East Coast, Midwest and Florida. The NCCC team is assisting Camp Wapsie until a week before they graduate on November 17, 2011 from the program.